Back to a not-sunny place...

... that was full of confused goats, as the electric fence was not well maintained after all. So the first few days were spent re-learning the (only slightly) painful lesson of not doing naughty goat things like eating fruit trees. But all is repaired by our able farmer... Due to not eating properly, milk production was down, but improving steadily - this will be the first winter when we'll milk through the season.

We had our wood sawed - we bought cheap left-over stuff from plank-manufacture, so all legal and even greenish, but good quality wood to burn. And no need to chop them - only a few thicker pieces. Nice to look at the pile - our insurance in case the Russians fall out again with the Ukrainians, turning off gas-supplies, which was the unhappy feature of a few winters here.

We don't look forward to a long winter - it will seem especially long this time as we managed to skip the worst bit last year.
We left here a lovely summer when we flew to England and came back to winter - it was -7C in the morning! Did go upto 20C during the day, mind you. The leaves on the fig-tree and the green stuff (chad, kale, brussel sprouts) looked frozen dead in the morning and during the day they managed to look good again, should have made pictures...

I returned to the same cold war simmering in the village - E. decided not to do the village newsletter - in the last minute, when this month's issue should be published. But hopefully the youngest of the councillors will take on the job - we will show them! Including the mayor, who is in touch from abroad, but still in a sour disposition, about us daring to oppose him - just the once...
Until now his office printed the newsletter for free - from now on he would charge the village. How petty he can be, I am so disappointed. Still, the Teleház will print them, with only the cost of paper and ink. And I don't have to worry if my responses will be printed or not...

On Sunday the pensioners' club trip to the theatre was a success, the minibus and a car managed the transport; all had a good time - except Marika néni's worrying wobble, but she was ok after the first interval. Even I thoroughly enjoyed it; I remembered Kálmán's Csárdáskirálynő as mighty smaltz, but actually it was full of humour, good tunes and even a moral against snobbishness and hypocrisy... it was very well done on every level, the direction, the singing the dance, the set were all spot on. Alan agreed. He had no trouble to follow the story, even some of the jokes.
We had champaign and cakes in the intervals, dead posh, dead cheap.
(Two glasses of champaign, 2 little pogácsa and two chestnut hearts for less than 1000HUF - less than £3)

talking about food - (sorry, Dad) lunch was duck soup reconstituted from frozen base, pasta bake (with goat cheese, bacon, mange-tout and sweet corns - I know, a bit idiosyncratic but it was ok, and no cake whatsoever! Lots of home grown figs. I experiment with fig preserves, so the kids can have a taste of them
when they are coming for Christmas - the silver lining on winter...


Pictures show the Manchester campaigners we talked to, who were (are?) camping in the city centre in dismal weather, against the global bank
system - is that what it is for? For the bottom 99%? Of course I am supporting them - but what is it they want exactly?
the whole system -sooo- sucks, but still nobody
talks about that - if banks were nicer, all would be honkey-dory..??
Népszabadság makes me sick with its "how nice is everywhere else" lectures.

the other photos show the pensioners in the theatre, and Alan in Wetherspoon, Rochdale with his three-beer taster deal, not a good picture, but you can see his happiness shine...